Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Here's my second 3D model in Modo. The first one was a good basic starting point, but I thought this one would be more of a challenge:) The Jaeger Axis is a tandem 2 seat hydrogen powered car. There is a rough interior on this model to make sure it all fits, but just basics. I'm focusing on the exterior design at the moment. Mainly I had the original design drawing, but I really wanted to see this thing from other angles to make sure it worked. So here's what I have so far. I've made a few minor alterations from the drawing, but so far I'm pretty happy that it's all working and looking cool in 3D. (it means my 3D thinking when drawing it is still working :) And of course the Axis is made by Jaeger Tech Design :Penjoy, and let me know what you think so far!-think above and beyond!-Alx

Monday, June 22, 2009

The original HBO series 'Band of Brothers' is soon to be followed up by a second mini series 'The Pacific'! If you haven't seen the original series which follows the 101st Airborne through Europe from D-day on, now's the time to catch up. In 2010 HBO will air the second installment focusing on the pacific theater of WWII. Check out the 1st sneak peak trailer!

Saturday, June 20, 2009

OK, so you know how last year I raved on about The Fall? Well this year let me begin to rave about a new independent film called Moon. I had seen the trailer a few months ago and seen a few production stills and was hooked from the outset. I won't list any spoilers here but I must say it has been a long...long time since I've seen such a pure sci-fi film. Sure Star Trek was great, but that is a different kind of glossy high budget sci-fi. Moon was made for around 5.6 million dollars... for the whole film... that's not even a fraction of the VFX budget on Star Trek! Thankfully though it looks like a 50 million dollar film. Moon is a sci-fi that takes place on, well, the moon! And the main character Sam Bell, expertly played by Sam Rockwell, is there on a 3 year contract to work for Lunar Industries mining for Helium3. His lonely 3 year tour has been rough on him and he's now 2 weeks away from returning home to his wife and child. His only companion is the base's computer 'Gerty' voiced by Kevin Spacey. Things begin to get a little weird for Sam as his contract nears it's end and it's here where the story gets really interesting. I won't say much more than that, but the movie tells a great human drama and phycological thriller without the use of big explosions or mind numbing action sequences. Director Duncan Jones handles the story with good pacing and visual grit while the erie soundtrack by Clint Mansel adds to the creepy loneliness of the moon's landscape. Tony Noble was the production designer and I'm amazed at the beautiful sets and FX they were able to pull off on such a small budget. The designs were simple and not distracting from the real, human story that Moon is about. If you long for a refreshing Sci-fi story that is not drowned in 'hey look at me!' summer movie explosions and wonder what happened to simple human stories in the Sci-fi genre, then MOON is the movie you've been waiting for! It's being released all over the US is various cities, so check your local theaters for when it will be playing in your area, it's worth the wait! The amazing soundtrack is also available now on itunes! check it out!

Friday, June 12, 2009

Doug Drexler has been digging up some old Star Trek : First Contact artwork on the ships I designed for that film. Earlier he focused on the Saber Class and Steamrunner Class, and today is Akira Class day! So check out the posts and the comments! I'll get some new stuff up here soon I hope :)-Alx

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Another of the long time Star Trek designers, Doug Drexler, has a blog as well and is currently featuring one of my First Contact designs, The Saber Class. Doug has been a part of the Trek franchise for a long time and is now offering up a behind the scenes peak at some of the designs that go into the shows. As for the Saber Class, it was one of 4 new designs put into Star Trek lure back in 1996 on First Contact. I hope to be able to offer up more details in the future, but for now check out the Drex Files

Friday, June 5, 2009

LONG TIME Star Trek artist and designer, John Eaves is responsible for many of your favorite Trek details, from the movies to the Next Gen TV shows. He's also a good guy and we've met a few times back in 1996 on First Contact and again recently on the new Star Trek movie. If you would like to see lots of his work as well as some of my long lost Trek images check out his site Eavesdropping with Johnny! He has recently posted some old ship designs of mine as well as some of James Clyne's new work from Trek. Scroll down further to read about the battle of art departments on First Contact too!-Enjoy!-Alx